Battle of the Tanais (373)
The Battle of the Tanais is a very obscure battle that occurred in about 373 between the rapidly expanding Huns and the native Alans and other minor tribes. The Huns crossed the Rha (Volga) in c. 370 due to the Huns finding the Caucasus as a better climate to settle in. The main tribe in the region were the Alans, who resisted the Huns for a few years. After a decisive victory against the Alans on the Tanais River, the Alans fell and most of them were allied to the Huns and crossed the Tanais westwards where they would encounter the Greuthungi Goths and eventually migrate into Gaul and Hispania. Background For more than three centuries had the Alans live in the northern Caucasian steppes between the Tanais (Don) River and the Rha (Volga) River. As early as 250 did the Huns arrive in between the Volga and Ural rivers, becoming the first tribe of Xiongnu origin to do so. During the 350's and 360's the Huns most probably began raiding across the Rua into Alanic territory, learning of their fertile and luscious territory. The Battle Either due to a tribe who attacked west into Hunnic grounds, or the Huns hoping to conquer and settle in their newly found land crossed the Rha River and into Alan territory in c. 370. The Hunnic and Alani kings, who Jordanes named Balamber as the first Hunnic king, meet at the Tanais River, where the Alans are defeated and their king most certainly slain. With the Alans left without a leader, most of their forces were forced into joining the Hunnic army. After at least 3 years, probably of quarling of any Alani resistance that could revolt against him, Balamber and his Hunnic and Alanic followers crossed the Tanais where they would in 476 confront and defeat the Greuthungi Goths. Aftermath In 376 (possibly starting in 375), the Huns and Alans invaded the Goths and in doing so forced them to flee into Thrace under the Roman Empire. Due to the following events, if the description of the battle above was accurate, it could technically be the cause of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, happening an entire century later. By 380, all of Caucasia would be under Hunnic rule, and just 15 years later would begin a raid into the Roman and Sassanid Empires through the Caucasus Mountain passes. Many of the Alans would migrate even further west under their new King Respendial into Gaul, Spain, and Africa. The Alans however in most cases would be treated as minor to a stronger power as their independence would be cut short with the death of King Attaces, successor to Respendial in 418. By the beginning of the 7th century, the Alan population would have died out in western Europe and wouldn't be independent again until the fall of the Khazar Khaganate in c.969. Obscurity, Speculation, and Original References Due to how the battle is supposedly mentioned in one sentence from Ammianus Marcellinus. The details of how the battle may have occurred, or if it even happened at all are up to speculation. However, due to the nature of history, it is almost certain that a major confrontation occurred between the Alans and the Huns that would’ve ended the Alan rule of the Caucasus in a similar manor of what is proposed by the Battle of the Tanais River Ancient Sources Ammianus Marcellinus Modern Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/ https://books.google.com/books?id=szTOxeqlVXgC&newbks_s https://books.google.com/books?id=8bZ4c5oZpNAC&dq